By: Rebecca Vernail
Published: February 25, 2026
Violence against women (“VAW”) is a pervasive issue that plagues women across the world.[1] Intimate partner violence impacts 736 million women and girls worldwide; 230 million women and girls are survivors of female genital mutilation; while in 2023, 51,000 women lost their lives to femicide.[2] To help aid in the eradication of VAW, and gender inequality in general, the international community established conventions condemning the practice.[3] The two most relevant conventions are the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (“CEDAW”) and Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (“Istanbul Convention”).[4] Both conventions refer to the practice of VAW as discrimination, but the term “VAW” does not accurately encompass the treatment that women face because of their gender. [5] Instead, in order to wholly eradicate VAW and gender inequality, the international conventions and community writ large must categorize VAW as persecution.
The text of CEDAW defines discrimination against women as the following:
“any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”[6]
The term “VAW” inherently includes various types of conduct toward women, including declining employment opportunities and regulating what women are permitted to wear.[7] However, when one is considering discrimination issues, it is unlikely that the connection is made to violent crimes against women, such as rape.[8] International definitions of discrimination do not specifically encompass the term “violence”, and even if they did, it would not adequately capture the severity and pervasiveness of violent acts towards women that occur across the globe. The term persecution, however, connotes a different narrative when referring to VAW.[9]
While there is no international consensus on the definition of persecution, there are several definitions of persecution in international circulation.[10] The United States has defined persecution as “a threat to life or freedom, or the infliction of suffering or harm upon, those who differ in a way a regarded as offensive.”[11] Alternatively, the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court has not only defined persecution as “the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity,” but also categorized the act as a crime.[12] Despite the lack of international consensus on the exact definition of persecution, both definitions possess similar characteristics that emphasize a harmful denial of rights on the basis of identity.[13]
Looking at the applicable definitions of persecution, it is absolutely necessary to apply these definitions to VAW. As defined by the United Nations (“UN”), VAW is “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”[14] The starting point in comparing the definitions of VAW and persecution lies on one key word: harm.[15] The definition of discrimination fails to encompass this central concept of harm.[16]
However, that is not the dispositive factor, VAW and persecution rely on harm towards a group of people based on a singular aspect of their identity.[17] The harm and violence inflicted on women is deeply rooted in gender inequality and the idea that women are inferior to men.[18] Therefore, the violent acts that women face is harm based on their identities as women.[19] This clearly delineates that the definition, in addition to the specifics acts of VAW, fit more comfortably in within the category of persecution as opposed to discrimination.
The plague of VAW gained momentum on the international stage as a practice to eradicate, but as the facts demonstrate, the current mechanisms of law are insufficient to effectively protect women from falling victims to violent gender inequality.[20] The international conventions that are currently standing, and any future international policies, must categorize VAW as persecution to achieve the goal of eradicating gender inequality.[21] By directly labeling VAW as persecution, the global community, and possibly the persecutors themselves, would be able to appropriately identify such conduct as a systemic practice that taints the legacy of women.
[1] See World Health Organization [WHO], Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates (Mar. 9, 2021), https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789Sources240022256 (categorizing VAW as a human rights issue and a global health problem).
[2] UN Women, Facts and Figures: Ending Violence Against Women, https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/facts-and-figures/facts-and-figures-ending-violence-against-women#83915 (Nov. 25, 2024) (demonstrating the pervasiveness of various forms of VAW).
[3] See Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Dec. 18, 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 13, [hereinafter CEDAW] (addressing the various forms of discrimination against women and the obligations of member states to eliminate them); see also Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, art. 3, May 11, 2011, C.E.T.S. No. 210. [hereinafter Istanbul Convention] (aiming to create efforts that specifically address VAW).
[4] See UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination of Against Women, General Recommendation No. 35 on Gender-Based Violence Against Women, U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/GC/35 (July 14, 2017) [hereinafter General Recommendation No. 35] (clarifying that violence against women constitutes a form of discrimination that CEDAW seeks to eliminate); see also Istanbul Convention, supra note 3 at art. 3 (defining “violence against women” as a human rights violation and a form of discrimination).
[5] See General Recommendation No. 35, supra note 4 (placing VAW within the broader definition of discrimination).
[6] CEDAW supra note 3, at art. 1.
[7] American Psychological Association, Types of Stress, https://www.apa.org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination/types-stress (last visited Sept. 12, 2025) (discussing several Acts aimed at eliminating discrimination in areas such as housing and age).
[8] Id. (providing examples that do not involve acts of violence against women).
[9] See Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, art. 7(1)(h), July 17, 1998, 2187 U.N.T.S. 90 entered into force July 1, 2002 [hereinafter Rome Statute] (defining persecution as conduct much more severe than discrimination).
[10] See id. (providing one international definition of persecution); see also Matter of Acosta, 19 I&N Dec. 211, 222 (BIA 1985) (providing the United States’ definition of persecution for asylum purposes).
[11] Matter of Acosta, at 222 (defining persecution in conjunction with the U.S. obligations under the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees).
[12] See Rome Statute, art. 7(1)(h).
[13] Compare Matter of Acosta, at 222 (requiring that a threat to life or severe harm be based off a difference that the victim possesses) with Rome Statute supra note 9 (requiring the serious denial of basic human rights be based off the identity of the victim).
[14] G.A. Res. 48/104, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, U.N. Doc. A/RES/48/104, art. 1 (Dec. 20, 1993) [hereinafter UN Declaration].
[15] Compare Matter of Acosta, at 222 (emphasizing that the person being persecuted must experience a certain level of harm and suffering) and Rome Statute art. 7(1)(h) (requiring any deprivation of rights to be severe and intentional) with UN Declaration art. 1 (describing VAW as a violent act against women that subsequently causes severe harm or suffering).
[16] See CEDAW supra note 3, art. 1 (categorizing the experience of discrimination simply as a distinction that impairs the woman).
[17] Compare Matter of Acosta, at 222 (emphasizing that the person being persecuted must experience a certain level of harm and suffering) and Rome Statute art. 7(1)(h) (requiring any deprivation of rights to be severe and intentional) with UN Declaration art. 1 (describing VAW as a violent act against women that subsequently causes severe harm or suffering).
[18] See Daniel G. Saunders, et al., Patriarchy’s Link to Intimate Partner Violence: Applications to Survivors’ Asylum Claims, 29 Violence Against Women 1998 (2023) (discussing the prevalence of domestic violence in Latin American countries being derived from patriarchal concepts and traditions that are elevated in such societies).
[19] Id. at 1999 (arguing how the physical and psychological harm inflicted on women by their misogynistic partners meets the requisite severity to be considered persecution under United States asylum law.
[20] Compare CEDAW, supra note 3, at art. 1 (defining VAW as discrimination, but fails to directly mention violence) and Istanbul Convention, supra note 3 at art. 3 (specifically providing obligations that aim to eliminate VAW), with Facts and Figures: Ending Violence Against Women, UN Women https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/facts-and-figures/facts-and-figures-ending-violence-against-women#83915 (Nov. 25, 2024) (detailing how women and girls around the world suffer from several forms of violent acts).
[21] See Matter of Acosta, 19 I&N Dec. 211, 222 (BIA 1985) (providing a more accurate definition that can be applied to VAW); see also Rome Statute art. 7(1)(h) (criminalizing persecution for conduct that VAW encompasses).